Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Web 2.0 Assignment

Web 2.0 Assignment


For the web 2.0 assignment, I am going to maintain a blog for math and this one. I am going to try and get some discussion going with my math classmates. I will be maintaining a wiki here to keep track of my professional development. The addresses are on my RSS Reader as well. The link for my podcast is on the sensational educational blog.


Usefulness of:
WIKI
I like the idea of wiki as a way to plan and collect ideas. Instead of a group having to email and phone each other to organize themselves, they can collectively participate in one place, regardless of where they are. This is also a great way to get a large project done in portions, and be able to maximize your peer editing time when deadlines are fast approaching.


BLOG
Blogs are a great way to get small amounts of information out to those who are concerned. Unlike a wiki that would be used for more in depth participation, the blog is a quick way to give input, or post information. From a teacher perspective, using the blog as a place to mention homework assignments is a great idea. Students will know where to check for missed assignments, and can post assignment specific questions that will not only fall on the teachers ears, but all who choose to read the blog.
Another interesting way to use the blog is as an online journal. Since posts to a blog are usually presented in chronological order, recalling your daily accounts on a school trip, or following someone's adventure that pertains to your subject matter, would be a great idea.


BOOK LIST
Book lists can be useful when you find someone that has the same interests as you, or had liked some of the books you have enjoyed, so you can find new books you might enjoy. Also, getting reviews on a book form someone with similar interests as you can save an expensive trip to the book store.

PODCAST
The definition of a podcast states that it is an ongoing item, something people subscribe to or that is updated. The usefulness of podcasts for teaching and assessment is one I have not explored, but by measuring the success of youtube, it seems to be a popular means of expression. I could see students using a podcast as a way to enhance a presentation as they are able to be outside the classroom, and are able to use different props and settings. In mathematics, they say that you recall over 90% of what you teach. It might be a fun idea to have a class collectively create a collection of “how to” podcasts, which could also be done in collaboration with the computer science teacher, or even a drama teacher.


RSS FEED/READER
Rss feeds are an absolutely great idea. Being able to monitor your email accounts, blogs, and wikis (to name a few) ,all at once, is an asset to the hectic life of any student. With teachers beginning to use blogs and wikis for their classes, a student may have 8 or 9 sites to monitor at any given time, not to mention personal interests, and the rss feed would be a great tool to help manage this.

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